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3.6
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 442 Reviews

Interest & Costs

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Flexibility & Terms

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Website & Functionality

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Support & Service

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Features
  • Personal loans up to $500
  • $0 account fees for ATM's and Overdrafts
  • Premium investment accounts with no minimum deposit required
  • Up to 12% cash back on purchases
Exclamation Mark Icon Not in partnership with Financer.com.
Chosen 380 times
  • Get up to $100,000
  • Starting at 7%% APR
  • No collateral required
  • Get approved online
Chosen 2,246 times
  • All Credit Types Accepted
  • Easy Online Application
  • Approval decision in minutes
  • Flexible Repayment Terms
Chosen 1,927 times
  • Easy online application
  • 2-Minute approval process
  • Accepts bad and poor credit

MoneyLion Review

Summary

  • Loans of up to $1,000
  • Credit Builder Plus costs $19.99/month
  • No overdraft or hidden fees
  • No mimimim balance

What is MoneyLion?

Founded in 2013, MoneyLion is a mobile banking platform that offers credit builder loans up to $1,000, interest-free cash advances, banking with early paycheck deposit and no minimum balance, managed investing, cashback rewards, and financial tracking and education.

MoneyLion breaks down traditional barriers to financial health and provides financial access to hardworking Americans, helping them take control of their money and reach their goals.

By leveraging artificial intelligence, superior analytics, and machine learning technologies, MoneyLion can gain a 360-degree view of its customers’ personal finances and deliver uniquely personalized advice and underwriting.

MoneyLion is headquartered in New York City and has more than 6 million users.

They have achieved various awards of recognition, including the 2020 Forbes Fintech 50, Finovate Award for Best Digital Bank 2019, Benzinga Fintech Awards winner for Innovation in Personal Finance 2019, and the Webby Awards 2019 People’s Voice Award.

Chosen 15,860 times
  • Personal loans up to $500
  • $0 account fees for ATM’s and Overdrafts
  • Premium investment accounts with no minimum deposit required
  • Up to 12% cash back on purchases
Min Loan Amount500
Max Loan Amount500
Lowest APR5.99
Highest APR0.00
Min Loan Term14 Days
Max Loan Term1 Year
Accepts bad credit:Yes.
Minimum Age18

Products Offered

MoneyLion offers the following products:

  • RoarMoney
  • Investment Account
  • Credit Builder Plus
  • Instacash Advance
  • MoneyLion Crypto


MoneyLion is a financial services provider that offers membership programs. Their services include online banking, credit-builder loans, and cashback rewards.

How MoneyLion Works

MoneyLion Account

In order to use MoneyLion’s services, a user must have a MoneyLion account.

MoneyLion allows for the creation of a free account, and you may choose to add other free services (such as Instacash advances) or paid services (such as Credit Builder Plus).

MoneyLion Website

Credit Builder Plus costs $19.99 per month and includes a credit builder loan, credit monitoring, and access to other services. The fees for MoneyLion products are low and transparent and disclosed on their website.

A user must be 18 years old and have a bank account in order to register for a MoneyLion account. Once an account has been created, users can go to the MoneyLion login and get access to MoneyLion’s services.

Credit Builder Plus

The Credit Builder Plus membership is a proven credit-building plan. It costs $19.99 per month and includes:

    Credit Builder Plus Membership

  • Loans up to $1,000 with competitive rates

  • Payment reporting to all three credit bureaus to help build your credit score

  • Credit monitoring and tracking 24/7 in the app so you can stay on top of progress and view your score anytime.

  • Access to 0% APR Instacash cash advances.

  • Exclusive cashback rewards called Lion’s Share, allowing you to get back up to $19.99 per month

Personalized Financial Tracking & Education

One of MoneyLion’s prime features is their Financial Heartbeat, a fitness tracker for your finances.

MoneyLion’s Financial Heartbeat combines a simple yet dynamic framework for monitoring financial health and empowers members to improve daily.

By simply opening the MoneyLion mobile app and checking your Financial Heartbeat — a beautifully designed visual representation of a beating heart that changes colors to reflect progress on a scale from 1-10 — members can quickly evaluate where they are on their financial health journey.

The MoneyLion Financial Heartbeat encapsulates five key financial pillars: SaveSpendShieldScore, and Strive, and surfaces daily insights to help members increase their scores.

Smart Mobile Banking

RoarMoney is MoneyLion’s banking offering in partnership with MetaBank and Mastercard. It offers:

Cash Back Rewards Program

With RoarMoney, customers can earn cash back on every purchase, every day. And it’s not your basic cashback program.

This is cashback that grows when it is invested into the customers’ fully managed investment portfolio, where they can grab it or let it grow.

Managed Investing

MoneyLion makes it easy to invest and reach your goals faster with fully managed portfolios and auto investing — all with no management fees or minimums.

MoneyLion simply asks you a few questions in the app and then recommends one of 7 core portfolios based.

You can personalize it by changing it to be more or less aggressive or by adding investment themes such as Future Innovations.

MoneyLion makes it even easier to fund and build your account with simple auto investing options.

There is one low fee of $1 per month for full investment management services, including trading and rebalancing.

If you are a Credit Builder Plus member, the $1 per month administrative fee will be reimbursed.

How to Apply for a MoneyLion Account

Step 1

Apply Online

You can apply for a MoneyLion account via their website or mobile app. The first step is to create an account by signing up with your full name and email address. 
Step 2

Apply for a Credit Builder Plus Membership

After signing up you can apply for a Credit Builder Plus membership and request a credit builder loan. You’ll need your full name and address, social security number, address, phone number, and bank account. 
Chosen 15,860 times
  • Personal loans up to $500
  • $0 account fees for ATM’s and Overdrafts
  • Premium investment accounts with no minimum deposit required
  • Up to 12% cash back on purchases
Min Loan Amount500
Max Loan Amount500
Lowest APR5.99
Highest APR0.00
Min Loan Term14 Days
Max Loan Term1 Year
Accepts bad credit:Yes.
Minimum Age18

Our MoneyLion Review

Reputation

Our general opinion of MoneyLion is a positive one. Having searched the internet for feedback and reviews, there were many positive comments from people who’ve benefited from the company’s products and services.

Whenever an issue was brought to MoneyLion’s attention, they addressed it quickly and responded with a proposed solution to the problem.

Support

The MoneyLion customer service options are impressive. MoneyLion offers live chat support through their app along with a chatbot feature for simple questions.

Customers can also contact them through phone support or their website.

Website

We love simplicity, both in functionality and design, and the MoneyLion site delivers on both of these while staying true to their stated mission: “Rewire the American banking system so that we can positively change the financial path for every hard-working American.”

It’s easy to understand and use their website, and the Credit Builder Plus loan application was very smooth.

It took us less than 10 minutes to fill out the application from beginning to end.

They do a particularly good job of highlighting all the products and services they offer members.

Does Financer.com Recommend MoneyLion?

Yes, we do. This is one of the most popular lenders we have reviewed, and it’s definitely no surprise.

Their site and application process are streamlined and simple, they offer reasonable interest rates, and they provide high-quality and reliable support.

Financer.com can gladly say that MoneyLion is an excellent option when you’re in need of a loan or other financial services.

Why Customers Choose MoneyLion

MoneyLion offers credit-builder loans up to $1,000 as part of its Credit Builder Plus membership. They also offer 0% APR Instacash advances up to $250, smart mobile banking, managed investing, and rewards.

Below we have listed just a few of the many advantages of choosing MoneyLion for your borrowing needs:

Competitive APR: The APR for MoneyLion’s Credit Builder Plus loan starts at 5.99%. The APR for its Instacash cash advances is 0% APR.

 No hard credit check: The loans are suitable for all credit types. Customers apply in the MoneyLion app by linking a checking account and can get approved in minutes.

Cost: The Credit Builder Plus membership costs $19.99 a month, which gives you access to the credit builder loan, monthly credit reporting to all three credit bureaus, as well as access to Instacash, MoneyLions’ 0% APR cash advance product, and other valuable features. You also have the opportunity to earn back the membership fee with their Lion’s Share rewards program.

Quick funding: One great feature of MoneyLion’s Credit Builder loan is they give you a portion of the loan amount upfront. You can receive those funds instantly or within 48 hours (depending on your funding method chosen). The rest of the loan is held in a Credit Reserve Account in your name, and you’ll receive this money after you pay off your full loan amount.

Easy repayment: Installments are fixed, so payments won’t fluctuate over time.

Early repayment option: There is no penalty for early payoff with Money Lion. Pay off your loan at any time without being charged any additional fees.

Transparent Fees: Any fees are made clear during borrowing, no surprises.

Access to premium services: The administrative fee for banking and investing is reimbursed for Credit Builder Plus members, and they can earn exclusive Lion’s Share cashback.

Was this article helpful?

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At Financer.com, we're committed to helping you with your finances. All our content abides by our Editorial Guidelines. We are open about how we review products and services in our Review Process and how we make money in our Advertiser Disclosure.

Reviews of MoneyLion

MoneyLion is rated 88 out of 179 companies in total rating and got an average review score of 3.6 based on 442 reviews. Their weakness is Website & Functionality and their strength is Interest & Costs.
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CL
Christopher Lee Smith 1 review | October 23, 2024
General Review
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Upsides
Nothing at all whatsoever
Downsides
Whistleblower Retaliation from Money Lion Leaves 4yrs+ Member Homeless My name is Christopher Lee Smith having been a member for over 4 years I never thought that I would suffer Whistleblower Retaliation directly from Money Lions employees and Legal Department. After I complained for not being offered a secured method to submit my sensitive personal documents my account was frozen, my access was taken away and a transaction dispute that I made very clear was an authorized transaction was purposely and erroneously presented to the merchant stating that there was no card holder authorization for the payment. The merchant was my landlord and the authorized payment that should NOT have been disputed and that I have written confirmation from Money stating that they acknowledged my statement that the transaction was authorized and would be cancelled but even so the payment was reversed and I lost my place to live being forced to move out for non payment of rent and to avoid an eviction/judgement going on record. I am now homeless and Manuel, Teresa and A Wagner from the legal department do not care. They refuse to accept my valid government issued ID and refuse to show me documentation of money lion's policy that they are using to determine that my valid photo id is not acceptable. Thanks for really giving this long standing and loyal member quite the experience.
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MO
Mercy O'Bourke 1 review | December 13, 2023
General Review
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Upsides
I never chose it. I was tricked into using it.
Downsides
It’s impossible to reach someone to speak to who doesn’t lie. I’m very old and terminally ill, so I don’t have the stamina to follow up as intensely as is necessary. I curse you all for your cruelty and lack of a scrap of decency.
Post reply
EB
Elizabeth Butts 1 review | May 11, 2023
Personal Loan Review
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Upsides
I liked the fact that I could get Instacash during the month when needed
Downsides
The downsides way outweigh any good that the Instacash could offer. 1.) I applied for a loan back in October 2022. Have my identification (birthdate, SS#, email address, phone #, address) the whole 9 yards. Set up to have my payments drafted from my checking account. All went pretty good until this past month. Payment posted to my bank account on May 2, 2023. Same as always. Only this month, they said that the money wasn’t paid ( I have proof that it was paid) and they are saying that I’m late with my payment. I have called their “Customer Circus” twice. Apparently, 7 months into me paying my loan, my birthday and social security number no longer match. Sometime between October when I opened my account and May my birthday mysteriously changed. There is no where in the app to edit your birthday, and the idiots they have working in their call center are less than helpful and will only spout out a bunch of lies. Will NEVER recommend this company to anyone else. I had just recommended it to all 1500 of my Facebook friends in April, and now I went back and retracted my recommendation. This is one of the most horrendous companies that I have ever been unfortunate enough to have to deal with. Will be turning everything over yo the Fraud department with my bank this week. Unless you want to be robbed, then do NOT trust this company.
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BA
Brandi Alice Lemke 1 review | April 20, 2023
General Review
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Upsides
If I could give it zero I would. If you are a disabled Navy Veteran like me I strongly advise against moneylion. They can and will suspend your account for a very long time and you will be without funds or access to the application. I have been trying to regain control of my account for 21 days with no help guaranteed. I recommend getting a bank that has a supervisor you can speak to or has a branch you can walk in to, where this issue would normally be fixed fast.
Downsides
Customer support cannot help you. They place you on hold to talk to someone that can and then get back on the phone to let you know that department is receiving it but they cannot help
Post reply
LW
Lucille Wernich 1 review | April 19, 2023
Personal Loan Review
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Post reply
CE
Clarissa Edwards 1 review | March 23, 2023
General Review
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Upsides
Good investment
Downsides
My funds are being held it's been nearly a month now explaining what so ever who and how do I talk to the higher up
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ML
meat less 1 review | March 7, 2023
General Review
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KW
Kermon Williams 1 review | March 5, 2023
General Review
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Upsides
Easy approach of the loan. Please read fine print
Downsides
Have to really read the fine print
Post reply
DG
Danielle George 1 review | March 1, 2023
Personal Loan Review
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Upsides
I applied and needed the money to finance to complete my Idea with a company for licensing and so forth. I applied and supposedly received only 100.00. Now This was very important to me to receive the loan for I 'am under contract. I am shy by 379.00 to complete everything necessary to put my idea on the shelves. It has hurt any other chances with any other bank for it shows as a loan!. DON'T DO!!!
Downsides
IT IS ALL A CON NOT ONE PRO!
Post reply
FM
Franny Myrick 1 review | February 2, 2023
General Review
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Upsides
Nothing good
Downsides
They close your account and give you different answer to why. When you what exactly was the cause they say they can’t tell you, I find it hard to believe when your the account holder and you want to know about your account.
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